Holy Roman Empire

Wave after wave, the troubles never ceased.

As the military arms race among England, France, and Austria reached its climax, once again the winds of change began to stir in Central Asia.

On July 11, 1887, Governor Lytton of British-India suddenly notified the Afghan Government that they intended to send a delegation to Kabul.

A weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken normally bodes ill intent.

Although many years had passed since the last Anglo-Afghan War, the British never ceased their colonial activities in Afghanistan, and there had never been true friendship between the two nations.

Considering the virulent anti-British sentiment among the Afghan public, the safety of the delegation could not be guaranteed, and the Russians' reaction was also a concern.

To avoid trouble, Abdul Rahman Khan-Emir politely refused the British request.

However, Governor Lytton was not one to give up easily, persistently making his requests as if he would never relent until they were accepted.

Unable to withstand the British persistence, in September, the Amir was forced to agree to their demands.

Once the British went, the Russians naturally could not stand by and watch their ally be bullied, and the Tsarist Government soon dispatched its own delegation.

What happened after that was beyond Franz's knowledge, but what was certain was that a showdown over Afghanistan had commenced between Britain and Russia.

Franz asked, "How do the Russians want our support?"

Austria and Afghanistan were separated by thousands of miles, with the Persian Empire lying between them.

The Vienna Government disliked unwarranted intervention; in places where they had no interest and could not reach, naturally, there would be no Austrian influence.

In the Afghan region, the real power lay in the hands of only England and Russia.

Under such circumstances, it seemed quite odd for the Tsarist Government to seek Austrian support.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg answered, "The Russians hope we can help distract the British, ideally creating some sort of trouble for the British Government."

After carefully recalling the original timeline's struggle between Britain and Russia over the Afghan Region, Franz finally realized something was amiss, the Second Anglo-Afghan War was missing.

Upon realizing the discrepancy, Franz signaled everyone to take a brief pause and hurriedly went to retrieve his memoirs, which he had penned at the beginning of his time travel, and started to review them.

Soon he clarified the cause and effect; due to the impact of the Prusso-Russian War, the Russians had not been able to focus on expanding into Central Asia in the past few years.

Without the Russian threat and remembering the heavy losses from the First Anglo-Afghan War, the British desire to capture the Afghan region was naturally not very strong.

Right, the "Anglo-Ebura War" over the control of South Africa between the Anglo-Austrian two countries also played a key role.

The cost of hundreds of millions of British Pounds, resulting in a fruitless end, directly influenced the colonial policy of the British Government.

Under the pressure of multiple factors, Afghanistan, with little to offer, had incredibly dodged a bullet.

Now with the Russians making a comeback, targeting Central Asia once again, Afghanistan—a pro-Russian smaller nation—became a thorn in Britain's side.

Having returned to the meeting room, Franz picked up his teacup and took a sip before slowly saying, "What do you think about us trying to incite a second Anglo-Afghan War?"

Faced with such an unexpected turnaround in the conversation, everyone looked around at each other with bewildered expressions, completely clueless about what the Emperor had in mind.

Seeing that no one caught on, Franz instructed an attendant, "Bring the map of Central Asia here."

...

"Look here at Afghanistan, bordering the Central Asian Khanate to the north and British-India to the south, with the Far Eastern Empire to the east and the Persian Empire to the west. It's the heart of Asia.

Whoever controls this point, controls the strategic initiative over Central, West, and South Asia, which is of great importance to both England and Russia.

In the previous years, the Russians were preoccupied with European issues and could not focus on Central Asia, allowing the British to infiltrate the Afghan Region at their leisure.

Now the Russians have turned around, refocusing their expansion towards Central Asia, a pro-Russian Afghanistan thus presents difficulties for the British.

If the Russians act out of line, and if their diplomatic wooing of Afghanistan fails, do you think the British would remain at ease?"

Prime Minister Carl, "Your Majesty, it's not hard to provoke the British by the Russians, nor is it difficult to sabotage the British plans of wooing Afghanistan.

Now, however, at a critical moment in the arms race, the Afghan region, no matter how important, is not as crucial as the hegemony of the Royal Navy.

Even if the British Government is deeply concerned, they will not provoke a second Anglo-Afghan war before the end of the arms race."

This is the most realistic issue; facing the challengers England and France, the British have to prioritize and manage their resources carefully, despite their ambitions.

Franz nodded, "Indeed! Under normal circumstances, the British would not initiate a second Afghan war during an arms race.

I did not expect the war to break out immediately. Delaying the situation could also serve our purpose.

What we need to do now is to encourage the Russians, telling the Tsarist Government that this arms race will last for several years, so they can confront the British boldly.

When necessary, the Foreign Ministry can also directly bolster the confidence of the Afghan Government, for example, by sponsoring a portion of their firearms and ammunition."

Having two great powers behind them should be intimidating enough. If that doesn't work, we might as well have someone assassinate the British envoys to exacerbate the conflicts."

Morals and principles can be discarded at critical moments. To create conflict, Franz even thought of assassination.

Of course, assassination aside, the blame must still be shifted. Either let the Afghans do it themselves or let the Russians take the fall. In any case, it should have nothing to do with Austria.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg, "Your Majesty, Afghanistan is now essentially surrounded by the British on all sides; once war breaks out, neither we nor the Russians will be able to reach them.

Without our support, relying solely on their own strength, I fear Afghanistan won't last long.

If the British occupy the Afghan region, it will be much more complicated for the Russians to move south again."

It must be admitted that the current international situation Afghanistan faces is truly dire.

To the south, they border directly with the British; to the north, the Central Asian Khanate is a British subordinate; to the west, the Persian Empire is pro-British, or rather, compelled to be pro-British; to the east, it is temporarily safe, although this route is also difficult to traverse.

Once war breaks out, Afghanistan will immediately be isolated and unsupported, and even if there's international aid, it will be difficult to get it in.

As an agricultural nation, losing international support and confronting the British, the odds of victory are far too slim.

Yet Afghanistan's strategic position is incredibly important; once the British establish their presence there, leveraging the easily defended but difficult to attack terrain, it will be much harder for Russia to move south.

The British might even counter, coordinating with the several Central Asian subordinates to cause trouble for the Tsarist government.

Franz shook his head, "As long as we want to support them, we can surely get supplies in there.

At worst, we send airships to airdrop supplies. If the range isn't enough, they can simply land in Persia on the return flight.

Even if the Persian Government leans towards the British, on this matter they can only pretend to have seen nothing.

Don't underestimate Afghanistan; with enough weapons, they can give the British a hard time, and the conflict certainly won't end quickly.

Even if the situation truly gets out of control and the British occupy Afghanistan, we can still support Russia to fight its way through Central Asia.

As long as we do not give the British time to consolidate their occupation, I believe the Russians are still capable of defeating them."

This is a sincere belief; Franz truly has confidence in Afghanistan, as the graveyard of empires is not a reputation earned easily.

Even if they cannot win, the Afghan people can outlast. If they lose the cities, there are still towns; if the towns are lost, there are still mountains and forests.

As long as the people are alive, the fight will not cease.

In the original timeline, several major empires have successively failed in Afghanistan, dragged down by heavy military expenditures.

Unless the British embarks on a killing spree, initiating genocide from the get-go, victory will be difficult to achieve.

Compared to that, Franz's confidence in the Russians isn't as high. The main reason is the three major wars in recent decades, which have sapped the vitality of the Russian Empire. Discover more stories at empire

Not to mention anything else, the population of the Russian Empire is over thirty million less than in the same historical period, and the proportion of its working-age population is at least five percentage points lower than in the same period.

The seemingly powerful Russian Empire is actually in its weakest state, alright for a short-term offensive but really ill-suited for a protracted war.

If the British decided to fight a war of attrition with the Russians, not caring about the costs, pitting their colonial troops against the grey livestock, the Tsarist government might not be able to withstand it.

While Franz may lack confidence in the Russians, that does not mean others do as well; the Cabinet was persuaded.